Embarrassing Indonesia in Thomas Cup, Taufik Hidayat Protests to Menpora, KONI and KOI: What are You Doing?

2004 Athens Olympics Champion Taufik Hidayat (Photo: Instagram @Taufikhidayatofficial)

JAKARTA - The 2004 Athens Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat spoke up following the red and white flag not being raised when the Indonesian badminton team won the 2020 Thomas Cup, in Aarhus, Denmark, Sunday, October 17 last night.

Taufik Hidayat was disappointed why the Red and White could not fly at the happiest moment. Then, what is the work of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, LADI, KONI, and KOI so that the 'essential' thing (the flying of the Red and White flag, ed) cannot be noticed.

"But there's something strange that the red and white flag isn't there? It's been replaced with the PBSI flag. What's wrong with LADI and our government? Especially Menpora Koni and Koi? What have you been doing all this time? It's embarrassing for the country of Indonesia," protested Taufik via his official Instagram account, @taufikhidayatofficial quoted by VOI, Monday, October 18.

The husband of Ami Gumelar added, if small things like this cannot be considered properly, how can Indonesia be trusted to hold a world-class event.

"Don't expect to be the host of the Olympics or the World Cup... even small things can't be done... The sports world can be a mess," said Taufik. In his criticism of related institutions, Taufik did not forget to congratulate the extraordinary achievements of the Indonesian Badminton National Team for bringing the Thomas Cup to Indonesia.

"Congratulations for the Thomas Cup back to INDONESIA. Thank you for the hard work of the Indonesian Badminton Team," said Taufik.

Former national men's doubles player Candra Wijaya also gave a scathing comment on this incident. "Ironically, when celebrating the Thomas Cup victory, the Red and White could not fly, it was a shame," said Candra as quoted by Antara.

Candra, the 2000 Sydney Olympic champion paired with Tony Gunawan, was one of the players who won the Thomas Cup in 2002, the last time Indonesia won the men's team world championship.

The Red and White was not flown following the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) sanctions. Instead, the PBSI flag was hoisted. In addition to Indonesia, North Korea and Thailand were also declared non-compliant by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), so they were sanctioned.

One of the sanctions is that athletes from the three countries are still allowed to compete in regional, continental, and world championships, but cannot fly their national flags other than at the Olympics.